Kudos to the City of Tshwane for reaching a small but important milestone in its quest to recoup millions of rand lost in the failed Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
The high court in Pretoria declared the R292m tender awarded to a joint venture including corruption-accused Edwin Sodi’s two companies null and ordered him to pay back the city all the profits made from the unlawful contract.
Sodi’s companies, Blackhead Consulting and NJR Projects, were part of the joint venture with CMS Water Engineering that were awarded the tender to upgrade Rooiwal to supply clean water to residents of Hammanskraal.
The contract was subsequently cancelled by the city due to poor performance and delays in completing the work. However, the full amount of the tender had already been paid to the contractors, who only had completed about 60% of the work required.
As a result of the lack of clean running water in Hammanskraal, more than 20 people lost their lives during an outbreak of cholera in the area.
The City of Tshwane approached the court to ratify its decision to cancel the contract and declare it unlawful on the back of its forensic investigation, which found that the process to award the tender was riddled with irregularities.
The court has ordered Sodi to provide the city with a detailed breakdown of expenses within 60 days of its order. If Sodi fails to provide the city with the breakdown to determine profits made, the metro has been ordered to appoint an expert to determine reasonable expenses and profits earned by the contractors.
This is a significant development in the protracted matter, which has seen little accountability for years. It is the first successful step taken by the city after its two previous attempts to hold officials responsible for the awarding of the tender and to blacklist Sodi’s companies, ran into legal hurdles.
Granted that the city’s efforts are still ongoing in the labour court to have its officials involved in the tender process sanctioned, the next big push should go towards ensuring success in the blacklisting of Sodi’s companies.
An equally encouraging development, especially for the people of Hammanskraal, was the handover of the completed Module 2 of the Klipdrift Water Treatment Works yesterday. The completion forms part of efforts to expand access to clean water to residents. Projects intended to supply water to the area have faced multiple delays that have brought about frustration and impatience from locals.
These two developments should give the public hope that justice will prevail at the end.
SOWETAN SAYS | Relief as Sodi is told to repay City of Tshwane
Image: Thapelo Morebudi
Kudos to the City of Tshwane for reaching a small but important milestone in its quest to recoup millions of rand lost in the failed Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
The high court in Pretoria declared the R292m tender awarded to a joint venture including corruption-accused Edwin Sodi’s two companies null and ordered him to pay back the city all the profits made from the unlawful contract.
Sodi’s companies, Blackhead Consulting and NJR Projects, were part of the joint venture with CMS Water Engineering that were awarded the tender to upgrade Rooiwal to supply clean water to residents of Hammanskraal.
The contract was subsequently cancelled by the city due to poor performance and delays in completing the work. However, the full amount of the tender had already been paid to the contractors, who only had completed about 60% of the work required.
As a result of the lack of clean running water in Hammanskraal, more than 20 people lost their lives during an outbreak of cholera in the area.
The City of Tshwane approached the court to ratify its decision to cancel the contract and declare it unlawful on the back of its forensic investigation, which found that the process to award the tender was riddled with irregularities.
The court has ordered Sodi to provide the city with a detailed breakdown of expenses within 60 days of its order. If Sodi fails to provide the city with the breakdown to determine profits made, the metro has been ordered to appoint an expert to determine reasonable expenses and profits earned by the contractors.
This is a significant development in the protracted matter, which has seen little accountability for years. It is the first successful step taken by the city after its two previous attempts to hold officials responsible for the awarding of the tender and to blacklist Sodi’s companies, ran into legal hurdles.
Granted that the city’s efforts are still ongoing in the labour court to have its officials involved in the tender process sanctioned, the next big push should go towards ensuring success in the blacklisting of Sodi’s companies.
An equally encouraging development, especially for the people of Hammanskraal, was the handover of the completed Module 2 of the Klipdrift Water Treatment Works yesterday. The completion forms part of efforts to expand access to clean water to residents. Projects intended to supply water to the area have faced multiple delays that have brought about frustration and impatience from locals.
These two developments should give the public hope that justice will prevail at the end.
Edwin Sodi Rooiwal firms are not off the hook
Attempted murder case against Edwin Sodi pulled from court roll
Tshwane bungles request to have Sodi blacklisted
City of Tshwane approaches court to bar Rooiwal managers from returning to work
Sodi ordered to pay back the money
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